'Star Trek' 50th anniversary stars on postage stamps in 2016
Will Star Trek make snail-mail soar?
We're about to find out in 2016, when the pioneering space-opera TV series celebrates its 50th anniversary and the United States Postal Services honors it with some spacey stamps.
Put aside the notion that fewer Americans, yoked to their email and their text-tossing smartphones, actually mail anything anymore. In fact, millions still do, especially for important stuff — like traffic tickets and wedding invitations.
Now the snail-mail aficionados among us can decorate their envelopes with the likes of the Starship Enterprise, the Starfleet insignia, a transporter and a Vulcan hand salute on a set of four "Forever" stamps.
Trekkies rejoiced.
Star Trek was on 33-cent stamps in 1999 as part of its “Celebrate the Century” program.
"The new Star Trek stamps showcase four digital illustrations inspired by classic elements of the television program," the USPS burbled in a press release Wednesday about its 2016 stamp program.
The stamps will feature these images: The Enterprise inside the outline of a Starfleet insignia against a gold background. A silhouette of a crewman in a transporter against a red background. The silhouette of the Enterprise from above against a green background. And the Enterprise inside the outline of the Vulcan salute, Spock’s iconic hand gesture, against a blue background.
The words “SPACE… THE FINAL FRONTIER,” from Captain Kirk’s famous voice-over, appear beneath the stamps against a background of stars.
Has it really been 50 years since Star Trek blasted off in search of "new worlds, new civilizations," boldly going "where no man has gone before?" It has: The show debuted on NBC on Sept. 8, 1966.
Having just recovered from the hoopla and hysteria surrounding the opening of the latest Star Wars movie, nearly 40 years after the first, now we'll have to buckle up for a long year of Star Trek reminiscences.
And Star Trek is just one pop-culture topic in the 2016 stamp program: Sarah Vaughan, Shirley Temple, African-American heritage, trucks, pets, planets, flowers, soda fountain drinks, flags, fruit and the holidays will also star on the little sticky squares.
"Our stamps articulate the American experience through miniature works of art,” said Mary-Anne Penner, acting director of stamp services for the USPS. “It’s an educational hobby the entire family can enjoy."
